


Nicodemus Epilogue

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M, episode-related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-03-22
Updated: 2002-03-22
Packaged: 2017-11-01 08:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/354624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My rewrite of the end of "Nicodemus".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nicodemus Epilogue

## Nicodemus Epilogue

by Lunar Plutonian

[]()

* * *

**NICODEMUS EPILOGUE**  
Lunar Plutonian 

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with the "Smallville" television show, and any copyright violation is purely unintentional. 

DAMAGE CONTROL: Since the events of "Nicodemus" add potentially unresolvable conflicts to two stories in my "CarBot" AU, I've decided to rewrite the end of the episode. Lex tells Clark the truth about Hamilton and also decides to keep Hamilton in Smallville. This way, details of "Attack of the Killer Toyotas" don't make as much sense, but the essential integrity of the story remains intact. 

Clark couldn't believe what an utterly horrible week he was having. His father was dying in the hospital thanks to being infected by pollen from the Nicodemus Flower. Lana had been infected and had almost killed herself, and she also was in the hospital unconscious now. And Pete had been infected, becoming consumed with the desire to kill Lex because he had felt that Lex had ruined his friendship with Clark. Note to self, Clark thought: Spend more time with Pete. Clark had to knock both Lex and Pete unconscious in order to stop Pete from killing Lex while keeping his secret intact. He seriously hoped Pete would remember nothing should a cure to the Nicodemus Effect be found. 

He kneeled over the unconscious Lex, his stomach in knots at having had to push him against a wall hard enough to knock him out. Lex was starting to come out of it. "Clark, what the hell . . ?" 

"I'm sorry, Lex." Please don't be mad at me, Clark thought. 

"So that was an act?" 

"I - I didn't know what else to do, he was going to shoot you!" 

"You had me for a moment, I thought you were serious!" 

Clark winced as he recalled the stricken look on Lex's face when Clark had gone into his "Our friendship is over" act. He grabbed Lex's hand and helped him up from the floor. 

"What are they feeding you on the farm?" Lex asked as he put a hand to the back of his bruised head. It occurred to Clark that Lex must be keeping at least one pharmaceutical company's profits firmly in the black with all the pain medications he had to take for all the head traumas he had recently received. 

Then something far more important occurred to Clark. "Was Hamilton really here?" 

Lex looked incredibly sad for a moment. "Yes, Clark, he was. I lied to you earlier. I'm so sorry. He is in my employ because I want to get to the bottom of how these meteor-rocks are affecting people, but I had no idea he was messing around with mutant-botany." 

Clark felt his stomach lurch. "Damn you, Lex! How could you? I thought you were my friend! Until now, I never doubted it! But now . . ." 

Lex turned away from Clark and looked down at the ground. "I know Clark, I'm an asshole. But Hamilton did locate an old Indian remedy for the effects of the flower, and he's on his way to the doctors I brought in from Metropolis. Your father, Lana, and Pete will be fine." 

Clark began pacing and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, good . . . but that is so not the point! You knew this guy was a kook! Why weren't you keeping a closer eye on him? And you LIED to me!" Clark stopped pacing and pointed an accusing finger at Lex as he fought back tears. "YOU have got mondo-serious PROBLEMS! If I didn't care about you as much as I did, I really think I'd want to knock you out again!" 

Lex looked stricken again. And this time, Clark thought, he totally deserves it! 

"I know Clark. I'm sorry. I take total responsibility here, and however you want to . . ." Lex swallowed. ". . . deal with this, I'll understand." 

Clark looked at Pete unconscious in the big leather chair in Lex's study and sighed. "We don't have time for this now. We've got to get Pete to the hospital." 

* * *

Observing the joy of the Kent Family at Johnathan's recovery, Lex wondered just how mad at him Clark was this time. He couldn't tell Clark that the main reason he was interested in the meteors was because he knew from the Scarecrow Incident of which Clark had been the victim and the part Lana's meteor necklace had played in it, that the meteors were poisonous to Clark. Just the same, the fact remained that he was becoming a noxious presence in Clark's life, first with the toxic-waste barrels spilled on the Kents' land, and now this. If Clark were to cut Lex loose, Lex knew he had only himself to blame. 

After about ten minutes, Clark looked up and saw Lex looking at him through the window. He got up from his chair at his father's bedside and walked out of the hospital room to Lex. Standing just outside the doorway, he looked at Lex with a mixture of disappointment and pity. Lex could feel his heart sinking as surely as if it had turned into a lead rock. Clark and Lex walked over to just beyond the window to talk. 

"You don't have to tell me that you're still mad at me, Clark. This time I've really earned it." 

"No kidding. Don't get me wrong, Lex. I'm grateful that my dad, Lana, and Pete are going to be okay because you spared no expense to clean up the mess you made. And with all the havoc the meteors have caused, I suppose it's a good thing you want to know more about them. But I really would like to know something. Why do you have such a FUCKED UP way of doing things?" 

Clark must have said "FUCKED UP" loud enough for his voice to carry. "Clark, watch your language!" Johnathan scolded from his hospital bed. 

"Oh, geez." Clark said. "Sorry, dad!" 

"Your father might be right about one thing about me. I've fallen into the habit of thinking that there's nothing that can't be fixed by spreading a bunch of money around. But this has made me realize that attitude is going to bite me in the ass one day if I keep it up much longer." 

"Took you this long to figure that out, did it? So what are you going to do about Hamilton?" 

"I'm going to have his lab at that barn destroyed. Technically he'll now be an employee of the Cadmus Labs facility LuthorCorp acquired when we took over Hardwick Industries, but I'll have him working at the Fertilizer Plant so that I can personally keep an eye on him. Clark, I really had no idea he'd try something so bizarre. If I would have had any inkling . . ." 

"Just save it, Lex. My dad, Lana, and Pete are recovering from that flower-poisoning, but if any of them would have died, there's no way I could still be your friend. And even though I still am, I feel like I don't know how much I can really trust you. I know you want to do the right thing, but if you're serious about it, everything can't always be a convenient shade of gray. Sometimes right is right and wrong is wrong, and you've just got to decide whether you're going to choose the right or the wrong. I believe you have it in you to choose the right, but it's just going to be a while before I can feel totally justified in that faith." 

"You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say you still have that faith in me at all, at this point." Lex looked down, fearing his eyes would betray the love and longing he felt for Clark at that moment. 

Clark, ever the faithful friend, laid a reassuring hand on Lex's shoulder that sent a warm, electric tingle down Lex's arm. "Just think about what I said, Lex. I should really get back to my family, now. Maybe I'll call you in a few days once I've calmed down." With that, Clark walked back into the hospital room. 

Lex felt as if a black cloud were hovering over him as he walked down the hospital corridor. Clark had basically asked Lex not to call him for a while until Clark felt it appropriate to resume their friendship. That meant a long few days, perhaps few weeks, for Lex to think about how completely he did not deserve a friend like Clark Kent. 


End file.
